It all started with a gift from Miss Vickie. She's the lady who has the community garden plot across from ours, though I haven't seen her for months and her garden isn't looking so hot. Miss Vickie are you out there? Anyway, the kids were chatting with her (avoiding work) this summer while I was toiling away in our garden. Since my children are adorable she gave them a tiny little potato that had sprouted a cute little green leaf. It was a baby redskin, probably about an inch in diameter. I drove it home carefully and planted the slightly wilted thing in a pot. Before I knew it, the pot looked like this:
I read somewhere that you are supposed to mound dirt around potatoes several times during the growing season and wait until the leaves die back before harvesting. But I didn't. So there. Just before we left on vacation (this would have been July) I dug my finger down into the dirt. There were potatoes in there! I felt as excited as the first time I went snorkeling in the ocean. I stuck my face in the water and gasped (mentally gasped because my face was in the water.) I had been playing in the ocean all that time and had no idea there were all those beautiful fish down there! I had been walking by that old pot for weeks, completely unaware of the beautiful tubers just beneath the surface. Harvest time.
What is that, sixteen potatoes? And some good sized ones too. Homegrown potatoes are delicious, and obviously very easy. It didn't even matter that some bug was eating the leaves. I don't recommend using a terra cotta pot however, because it's too fragile to move around when dumping the potatoes. Go get yourself some cheap plastic containers- I like the black 15 gallon nursery pots. Fill with potting soil, put in a potato or two, place in a sunny spot and don't forget to water it once in a while. Before you know it you'll be baking, mashing, and french-frying.
See that little tiny one at the top left? I replanted it. It's a circle of life kind of thing. Thanks, Miss Vickie. 
This post is linked to Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesdays.
I read somewhere that you are supposed to mound dirt around potatoes several times during the growing season and wait until the leaves die back before harvesting. But I didn't. So there. Just before we left on vacation (this would have been July) I dug my finger down into the dirt. There were potatoes in there! I felt as excited as the first time I went snorkeling in the ocean. I stuck my face in the water and gasped (mentally gasped because my face was in the water.) I had been playing in the ocean all that time and had no idea there were all those beautiful fish down there! I had been walking by that old pot for weeks, completely unaware of the beautiful tubers just beneath the surface. Harvest time.
What is that, sixteen potatoes? And some good sized ones too. Homegrown potatoes are delicious, and obviously very easy. It didn't even matter that some bug was eating the leaves. I don't recommend using a terra cotta pot however, because it's too fragile to move around when dumping the potatoes. Go get yourself some cheap plastic containers- I like the black 15 gallon nursery pots. Fill with potting soil, put in a potato or two, place in a sunny spot and don't forget to water it once in a while. Before you know it you'll be baking, mashing, and french-frying.
This post is linked to Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesdays.
1 comment:
Awesome, Tamlynn! We did red potatoes in our garden this year for the first time, too. It was really fun, and they were good!
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